Krstic leads the West Aussie singles charge
It was the conclusion of the sectional play in the Men’s Pairs, and the start of the Women’s Singles on the Gold Coast today as the 2023 Australian Open continued. Plenty of West Aussies in action as we take a look at how they fared.
Four WA women have guaranteed their place in the knockout rounds of the Women’s Singles title race, with second chance qualifiers still to be determined after tomorrow’s final rounds of sectional play.
Kristina Krstic was a standout storming her way through her section winning 21-6, 21-11 and 21-3 across her three matches, whilst Manning teammate Laura Butler also progressed undefeated 21-12, 21-9, 21-16.
Victoria Park Carlisle’s Leanne Gale was another to make her way through – slightly closer matches but still three solid wins, and finally WA State Singles Champion Irene Arndt survived a final round 20-21 loss to fellow West Aussie Lily Leach of Sorrento to grab a spot in the knockouts.
In the Men’s Pairs two more WA linked combinations join the 8 that qualified yesterday in the knockout rounds. Simon Alden (Bassendean) with Matthew Ngui (Fremantle) won all three matches – 16-14, 26-6, 15-12 showing they were playing the big bowls when they counted. Jeremy Thomas (Guilderton), already through in the Singles, joined former WA player Gareth Hill in moving through undefeated despite two close matches throughout the day.
Check out the full list of all of today’s winners, in the Women’s Singles and the Men’s Pairs here
Click here for the Men’s Pairs Knockout Round Draw
Women’s Singles continues tomorrow…
Sections 90-112 take centre stage tomorrow for the conclusion of the sectional play in the women’s singles. Half a dozen West Aussies on show, perhaps lead by Lisa Featherby who meets Victorians Claire Sanders and Samantha Robinson in her section at Broadbeach.
Sorrento has Wendy Flack and Anne Sauerwein in action, while Leeming’s Maggie Newton has a tough one against South Australian Laini McGorman. Jenny Jones (York) adds some country flavour, and WA Novice Champion of Champions Tamara Arnold from Yanchep will make her Australian Open singles debut.
Men’s Fours time…
An incredible 36 teams featuring at least one WA player take to the greens tomorrow, in a field of 352 teams – yes that’s 1,408 individual players competing for the Mens Fours title.
Section 6 at Broadbeach perhaps holds the most intrigue. WA’s John Goddard, Gordon King, Lance Goddard and Grant Nicol find themselves in the section of the tournament. David Ferguson, Ben Twist, WA’s own Cody Packer and Jesse Noronha feature in one opposition team, however there is also the small concern of Aron Sherriff, Aaron Teys, Corey Wedlock and Barrie Lester in the same section! The winner of this section probably takes on favourite status for the whole event.
It is impossible to cover all 36 teams, but other fancied combinations include Jack East and his crew of Blake Butler, Matthew Ngui and Scott O’Brien, plus an in form Brad Ball, with Steve Novak, Matt Allen and Peter Cole.
Mermaid Beach hosts three WA combinations skippered by Garry Atkinson, Ben Leggett and Andrew Jones. Jones perhaps with the hardest task facing a mixed Victorian/Tasmanian team skippered by Ben Winther.
We will watch closely as the results come through. Good luck to our huge WA contingent in this event!
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